The host Falcons remained alive in the Division 2 state tournament with a wildly entertaining 53-29 victory over Livonia Franklin Friday to claim the regional championship. It marks the second time in program history that Groves has advanced to the semifinals — the first just two years ago when it lost a heart-breaker to Detroit King.

Henry Van Faussien was a sophomore in 2016 who experienced the state playoffs as a varsity call-up. This team he's going as a senior tri-captain and he can't wait.

"This is awesome. We're only the second team to have made it (to the semifinals)," Van Faussien said. "There are a lot of parallels between those teams. We have strong leaders but we also have strong juniors. Everyone steps up and makes plays for us."

Groves' offense was hard to stop once it got started against Franklin.

The Falcons trailed 2-0 after the opening quarter, but exploded for three second-quarter touchdowns on three consecutive possessions to take a 21-2 halftime lead. Groves continued its onslaught in the second half by scoring 32 points en route to its biggest offensive output of the season. Six different players accounted for the seven Falcon touchdowns.

Franklin pickes up a Groves botched punt that ended up in the end zone. Franklin recovers the ball for 2 points. Kyle Hetu celebrates the first points on the scoreboard. Bill Bresler | hometownlife.com

An offensive explosion

Veteran head coach Brendan Flaherty figured the teams would put on an offensive show despite the cold, windy conditions.

"I did expect this (shootout). I absolutely did. I think (Franklin) does a great job," said Flaherty, whose team is now 10-2 on the season. " It's like three weeks in a row between (Seaholm head coach Jim) DeWald (and Rice head coach Adam Korzeniewski) Coach K and now (Franklin head coach Chris) Kelbert. These guys are really, really smart guys.

"This is awesome and it's a good testament for us and we always want to try and get a little better each week," he said. "I think it's a credit to the coaches and the players and everyone involved with the program for us to get back to the semifinal."

Franklin took the early 2-0 lead with a safety following a bad snap which ended up in the end zone on a Groves punt attempt.

The Falcons then did what they do best — tear up opponents with their big-play rushing attack.

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All four of Franklin's touchdowns Friday night against Groves in the Division 2 regional championship game came on passes from quarterback Jacob Kelbert to three different receivers.(Photo: Bill Bresler | hometownlife.com)

Junior Colby Taylor burst up the middle and sprinted untouched into the end zone for a 67-yard TD run to begin the Groves comeback. Three minutes later, senior tri-captain Damonte McCurdy raced 30 yards into the end zone after shedding a couple Patriot defenders.

Then, with just eight seconds left before halftime, junior quarterback Markis Alexander hit senior Christian Thomas in the corner of the end zone on an 8-yard TD pass.

Franklin, which finished fourth in the tough KLAA East Division and got in the playoffs with a 5-4 record due to its brutal schedule, scored the first 13 points of the second half to get within six points at 21-15. Junior quarterback Jacob Kelbert completed touchdown passes to Cal Fournier (38 yards) and Frederick Biles (15 yards).

But, Groves quickly responded on its very next possession when McCurdy went in from 23 yards out Two minutes later, Falcon defensive end Jacob Edelman intercepted a pass and ran it back 35 yards to the Franklin 5-yard line. Senior halfback Joel Mitchell romped in on the very next play and Groves regained a comfortable advantage at 36-15.

Kelbert paces Patriot attack

Franklin's two other touchdowns were passes from Kelbert to Biles (56 yards) and Davion Reno-Smetler (nine yards). The final two Groves touchdowns were by Khalil Dawsey (41-yard run) and Taylor (25-yard run). Groves kicker Moritz Preuss also hit a 37-yard second-half field goal.

"We just had a bad start. We didn't come out and fire on all cylinders there," said Franklin's head coach Chris Kelbert, whose team ended with a 7-5 overall record. "In the beginning of the game we got ourselves in an 18-point deficit and that was kind of the outcome. We had to play catch up from there on out.

"I challenged the kids at halftime to come out and make it the greatest comeback ever instead of the other side of that," he said. "They did what I asked. But Groves is a very talented team and they did what they needed to do."

Kelbert accounted for most of Franklin's offense with 263 passing yards (18-of-33) and 60 yards rushing.

Groves will now play Warren De La Salle (10-2) in the D-2 semifinal set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Hazel Park High School. De La Salle, the defending Division 2 state champion, advanced to the semis after Friday's 21-3 victory over Port Huron Northern.

"This feels great. We really have a lot of momentum going for us," said Van Faussien. "We're on a 10-game winning streak and I think we have a real shot at moving on. We're going to play our hearts out (against De La Salle), we're going to leave it all out on the field and we're going to make it to the state championship game.

"We didn't really finish off well last week (in the district championship win over Brother Rice), and that was on us," he said. "We have a non-stop drive to play aggressive. We play mean and we play hard. That's just who we are."

Flaherty knows the Pilots will be a huge obstacle to overcome.

"They are really, really good and it's going to be a huge challenge for us," he said.

Contact Marty Budner at mbudner@hometownlife.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MartyBudner.